Sofa bed structure



March 30, 1965 3,175,228

E. S. QUARNGESSER SOFA BED STRUCTURE Filed D86. 3, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet lFIGI FIG

INVENTOR ELWOOB S. OUARNGESSER ATTORNEY March 30, 1965 E. s. QUARNGESSERSOFA BED STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 5, 1962 FIG] 36 INVENTORELUoon s OUARNGESSER BY 5% WWW ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,175,228SOFA BED STRUCTURE Elwood S. Quarngesser, Baltimore, Md. (16801 CollinsAve, Miami Beach 54, Fla.) Filed Dec. 3, 1962, Ser. No. 241,293 2Claims. (Cl. -17) This invention relates to sofa beds and is directed tothe problem of providing a sofa bed structure which is readilyconvertible from a sofa to a bed, and vice versa, with a minimum ofeffort, and wherein the structure requires reiatively few parts for thefunctions which it is capable of performing.

Sofa bed structures known prior to the present invention generallyinvolve some type of linkage whereby one or more parts of the sofa, suchas the seat, may be moved in a pivotal manner, or folded, to convert thesofa into a bed. This tends to complicate the structures and makes itrelatively expensive. Also, the folding causes excessive wear on the bedlinens and mattress. 111 an effort to overcome these disadvantages,slideably moveable seat members have been proposed, thus eliminatingpivotal linkages, but insofar as I am aware, the resulting structure isnot satisfactorily rigid when closed to from a sofa, nor can thestructure be converted from a sofa to a bed with uniform precision.Moreover, even known structures involving slideable seat members arerelatively complicated and more expensive than a sofa bed structureaccording to the present invention.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a newand improved sofa bed structure which involves relatively few structuralparts and is relatively economical for the functions performed.

It is another object of this invention to provide a sofa bed structurewhich is satisfactorily rigid and strong when used either as a sofa oras a bed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sofa bed structurewhich is readily convertible from a sofa to a bed, and vice versa, andwhich includes means to assure proper alignment of the slideablymoveable portion as either a seat or as a bed member.

In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects, an importantfeature of the invention resides in the employment of a combination bedand sofa seat which is independently supported for movement relative tothe arms and back-rest of the sofa. The seat is mounted on a rectangularframe having independent ground engaging supports, such as casters, ateach corner. A pair of sofa arms are retained in spaced-apart relationby a backrest connected to the upper rear portion of each arm with theback-rest being supported above the bottom of the arm a sufficientdistance to permit the rear portion of the seat to pass beneath theback-rest. a brace member is connected to the bottom edge of each of therespective arms and extends toward the other arm, and has guide meanswhich contact the end members of the rectangular frame to guide the seatbetween the arms of the sofa. An extension on each of the braces extendbeneath the end members of the frame to prevent tilting of the backrestand arms by a person seated on the sofa.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent byreference to the following specification taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sofa bed according to the presentinvention, said sofa bed being shown in closed position whereby itfunctions as a sofa;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 wherein the seat portionis pulled out to form a bed;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the FIG. 2 shown with the seat and springsupport members omitted to expose the slideably moveable seat supportingframe;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view of a portion of the structure shownin FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail showing similar to FIG. 4 wherein the seatsupporting frame is shown in the closed position;

FIG. 6 is a partial section view taken on line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a partial section view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the sofa bed, designatedgenerally by numeral 10 having a pair of laterally spaced arm members 12and a back rest 14. Seat 16 is disposed between arms 12 with the rearportion extending beneath back rest 14 so that the unit functions as asofa. Seat 16 comprises a cushion or a mattress 13 and box springassembly 20 supported on a generally rectangular frame 22.

Frame 22 has a front member 24- and a rear member 26 which are generallyparallel and spaced apart by a pair of end members 28. Preferably,members 24, 26 and 28 are formed from standard structural angles, andreleasably joined at the corner of the frame structure as by bolt 3%. Toadd rigidity to the rectangular frame, braces 32 may be provided at eachcorner. Mounted near each end of the end members 28 is a caster, orwheeled support 34 to support the frame in spaced relation to the groundsurface 36.

Connected to the lower edge of each of the sofa arms 12 is a brace 40which extends toward the opposite arm. Each of the respective braces isprovided with a pair of laterally spaced rollers 42 mounted for rotationabout a vertical axis and positioned to engage the edge 44, of member28. Each of the braces as extends beneath the associated end member 28,in closely spaced relation thereto, to prevent upward movement of thearm with respect to the frame support.

Braces 40 have an upwardly extending portion 46 laterally spaced fromedge 44 of end members 28. A pair of stops 43 are mounted near therespective ends of surface 44 and extend outwardly therefrom in positionto engage portion 46 of brace 40 to limit in-and-out movement of support22 relative to the sofa arms and back rest.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the caster-supported frame can beeasily moved along the supporting surface 36 and will be maintained inproper alignment with the sofa arms and back support by the pair oflaterally spaced guide rollers contacting the vertical surface of eachof the end members. The stops mounted on each of the end members arepositioned to limit. the movement of the supporting frame relative tothe arms and back rest so that the seat can be quickly and easilypositioned to function as a sofa as shown in FIG. 1 or to function as abed as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Also, the braces extendingbeneath end members 28 prevent tilting of the arms and back rest by aperson seated on the sofa.

While I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of myinvention, I wish it understood that I do not intend to be restrictedsolely thereto, but that I do intend to cover all embodiments thereofwhich would be apparent to one skilled in the art and which come withinthe spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A sofa bed comprising a pair of horizontally spaced substantiallyvertically extending arms; a back rest connected to the upper portion ofeach of said arms and extending therebetween; a substantially horizontalseat located between said arms, said seat including a substantiallyrectangular frame having a front frame member, a rear frame member and apair of end frame members extending between said front and rear framemembers, and ground engaging means supporting said frame for in-and'outmovement between said arms, there being an end memher at each end ofsaid seat located adjacent the associated arm and having an edgeextending substantially parallel to said arm; a pair of brackets mountedone on each arm adjacent the bottom thereof, said brackets eX- tendingfreely toward one another and spaced closely beneath said end framemembers and terminating at a point beneath said seat; stop means mountedon each end of said rectangular frame and positioned to engage saidbrackets to limit the in-and-out movement of said seat with respect tosaid arms; and guide means mounted on each of said brackets to maintainsaid seat in proper alignment and to facilitate in-and-out movement ofsaid seat with respect to said arm, said guide means including aplurality of low friction members positioned to engage the parallel edgeof the associated seat end member.

2. A sofa bed as defined in claim 1 wherein said stop means for limitingthe in-and-out movement of said seat includes a pair of stop membersmounted on each of said end frame members in position to engage saidbracket,

and said guide means includes a plurality of rollers mounted forrotation about a vertical axis in position to engage the parallel edgeof the associated seat end member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,631,304 7/12Weinmann 518 1,455,215 5/23 Levin 5-18 2,118,050 5/38 Martin 5-182,200,652 5/40 Bowersox 5-18 2,341,307 2/44 Aronson 5-17 2,370,851 3/45Eppens-tein 5-17 2,412,628 12/46 McKeoWn et al. 518 2,539,103 1/51Robinson 5-18 2,619,656 12/52 Crahan 518 2,937,38 5/60 Rehfeld 5-172,972,754 2/61 Weidner 517 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

1. A SOFA BED COMPRISING A PAIR OF HORIZONTALLY SPACED SUBSTANTIALLYVERTICALLY EXTENDING GARMS; A BACK REST CONNECTED TO THE UPPER PORTIONOF EACH OF SAID ARMS AND EXTENDING THEREBETWEEN; A SUBSTANTIALLYHORIZONTAL SEAT LOCATED BETWEEN SAID ARMS, SAID SEAT INCLUDING ASUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR FRAME HAVING A FRONT FRAME MEMBER, A REARFRAME MEMBER AND A PAIR OF END FRAME MEMBERS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAIDFRONT AND REAR FRAME MEMBERS AND GROUND ENGAGING MEANS SUPPORTING SAIDFRAME FOR IN-AND-OUT MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID ARMS, THERE BEING AN ENDMEMBER AT EACH END OF SAID SEAT LOCATED ADJACENT THE ASSOCIATED ARM ANDHAVING AN EDGE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID ARM; A PAIR OFBRACKETS MOUNTED ONE ON EACH ARM ADJACENT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, SAIDBRACKETS EXTENDING FREELY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER AND SPACED CLOSELY BENEATHSAID END FRAME MEMBERS AND TERMINATING AT A POINT BENEATH SAID SEAT;STOP MEANS MOUNTED ON EACH END